Railway-switch stand



(No Model.)

A. GRINDER.

RAILWAY SWITCH STAND.

Patented Sept. 18, 1883.

Wmseo mental gear.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()rFIcE.

'ALQNZO GRINDER, OE ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAI LWAY-SWITCH STAND.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 285,356, datedSeptember 18, 1883.

Application filed May 17, 1883.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALONZO GRINDER, a citizenof the United States of America, residing at Altoona, in the county ofBlair and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Railway- Switch Stands; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a partof this specification.

This invention consists in certain new and useful improvements inrailway-switch stands; and it has for its object to provide a meanswhereby the rails of the railroad-track can be adjusted readily with asmall amount of power, and when adjusted will be held securely inposition; and to thisend it consists in providing a switch-stand at itslower portion with a ratchet-bar, in whiclrmeshes a pinion which travelsin a. suitable slot provided for the sh aft of the same in theswitch-stand, which pinion carries the operating-rod attached to therails and meshes into a lever provided with a seg- It also consists inthe construction and ar-. rangement of the parts, as will be hereinaftermore fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

In the annXed drawings, which illustrate my invention, Figure l is aperspective view, showing the parts in position and the construction ofthe switch-stand. Fig. 2 is a sectional view.

A represents the connecting-rod, which is attached to the rails to beoperated. This rod is screw-threaded at its inner end, and is pro videdwith adjusting-nuts, which embrace the end of a bifurcatedconnecting-plate, B, which overlaps the pinion O, and is pivoted to itscentral shaft. The lower portion of the switchstand is provided with arack-bar, D, into which the aforesaid pinion meshes, and on its sidewith suitable longitudinal slots E, as shown, through which passes thebearing or shaft of the pinion 0. Immediately above this pinion O ispivoted a lever G, which is provided on its lower end with gear-teeth,which are arranged on the segment of a circle, and the upper part of theswitch-stand is provided (No model.)

with means for holding this lever in place, as shown. gear-teeth, I mayuse a cogged wheel, which may be provided with a suitable crank forturning the same. This construction is desirable in some instanceswherebut a small amount of space can be had.

The switch-stand, in which the parts are confined, is of ordinaryconstruction, with the exception of the parts hereinbefore referred to.

It will be noticed in operating this invention that I provide a rollingbearing or fulcrum for the center pinion, which carries theswitch-operating rod, and by this means I gain a large amount of power.The switch-stand is also provided with similar longitudinal slots, E,located above the slot E, which may be employed in case the pinion 0should be broken, in which case said pinion would be removed and thelever dropped so as to intermesh with the rack-bar D at the base of theswitch-stand, the bifurcated plate or connecting means B be- .ingsecured to the lever G by a suitable pivot,

which will pass through the slots E, perforation in the lever G, andends of the arms on the plate B. By this arrangement the operating-rod Acan be moved to and fro, the bearing of the lever traversing thelongitudinal slot-s.

To those skilled in the art the advantages of this invention will beevident, and its power is so great that switches may be operated bymeans of the same even when a loaded train rests upon the switch, andthe parts being simple are not liable to get out of order.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is a A switch-stand provided with a rack-barat its base, a pivoted operating-lever with seg: mental gear, and anintermediate pinion having a transverse bearing secured in longitudinalslots in the switch-stand, and an operatingrod attached thereto, theparts being organized substantially as shown.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALONZO GRINDER.

Instead of this lever with segmental

